Paint or varnish feeder and painting device comprising said feeder

ABSTRACT

A paint or varnish feeder ( 2 ) for a roller painting device ( 1 ), which comprises at least one hollow manifold ( 7 ) with openings ( 8 ) to deliver and to distribute the paint or the varnish to the roller ( 5 ) of the painting device ( 1 ), is described. The feeder ( 2 ) has, on a flat face ( 14 ) destined to come into contact with the roller ( 5 ), a hollow surface ( 12 ), shaped as an arc of a circle, along the longitudinal axis of which there is a groove ( 13 ) connected to the at least one manifold ( 7 ) by at least one opening ( 8 ). The hollow surface ( 12 ) advantageously has a radius no smaller than that of the largest sized roller ( 5 ) with which the feeder ( 2 ) is destined to come into contact. There is further described a painting device ( 1 ) comprising said feeder ( 2 ).

The present invention refers to the field of roller devices for applyingpaint or varnish to a surface, particularly but not exclusively forpainting walls both vertical and horizontal (floors or ceilings).

It is known to use—for example, to whitewash a wall—a roller which isused by dipping it into a recipient containing the paint, then byeliminating the excess paint with various expedients and finally bypassing the roller over the wall several times until the paint itcarries is used up, after which the roller is dipped into the recipientagain.

The system used leaves much room for personal skill and experience,which means that a beginner will easily obtain poor or uneven results.

Furthermore, the amount of paint or of varnish distributed is not evenwith each brushstroke but it gradually decreases from the first stroketo the last one before the brush is dipped again.

In addition, the movements necessary to supply again the roller withpaint lead to a waste of energy and of time.

To overcome these drawbacks there are known and available on the marketpainting devices comprising so-called “feeders” which, connected to atank containing the paint or the varnish and placed in contact with theroller, pick up from the tank and supply to the roller the amount ofpaint or of varnish necessary each time, eliminating (or at leastdrastically reducing) and/or the risk that part of the paint or of thevarnish may leak from the painting device dripping onto the user, thewalls and/or the ground.

Operation of a feeder will not be described here because it is per seknown.

It has nevertheless been noted that, at least in certain conditions ofuse (for example when painting a ceiling), the already known feeders arenot able to avoid the paint dripping—or being able to drip—on theoperator and/or on the ground.

Object of the present invention is a feeder for a roller painting devicesuitable to avoid this risk.

A feeder according to the present invention is disclosed in independentclaim 1; further characteristics of said feeder are disclosed in thedependent claims.

The present invention further includes a painting device provided with afeeder (or applicator) made according to the present invention.

The invention achieves the above object, in particular it allows acontrolled delivery of paint or of varnish onto the roller of thepainting device without the need to perform tiring and time-consumingmovements; furthermore, it has been seen experimentally that it allowsmore even results to be achieved than those that can be achieved withtraditional painting.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described below purelyby way of non-limiting example and with reference to the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically a side view of a roller paintingdevice—per se known—comprising a feeder made according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically a top view of the painting device of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of the feeder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the feeder of FIG. 1 sectioned along the planeIV-IV of FIG. 3.

In the appended figures corresponding elements shall be identified bythe same reference numerals.

FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, show a side view and a top view of a rollerpainting device indicated as a whole with reference numeral 1 andcomprising a feeder 2 made according to the invention.

The painting device 1 comprises a handle 3 which carries a roller-typehead 4 consisting of a roller 5 of conventional type—able to rotate on asupporting frame 6 integral with the handle 3—and of the feeder 2,comprising at least one hollow manifold 7 (FIGS. 3 and 4) that comprisesone or more chambers with paint or varnish distribution openings 8 madein the flat face 14 destined to come into contact with the roller 5 andwhich is connected to the paint or varnish tank by flexible supply hoses9.

The hollow manifold 7 receives the paint or the varnish from theflexible supply hoses 9 and delivers it to the roller 5 through theopenings 8.

In the painting device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the at least one chamberof the manifold 7 receives the paint or the varnish through adistributor 10 and the feeder 2 is carried by means 11 able to bring itinto contact with the roller 5—respectively away from the roller 5—onlyon user's command; the distributor 10 and the means 11 will not bedescribed herein because they are per se known and in any case outsidethe scope of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of the feeder 2 of FIG. 1, which has onthe flat face 14 destined to come into contact with the roller 5 ahollow surface 12, shaped as an arc of a circle, along the axis of whicha groove 13 connected to the at least one manifold 7 by at least onedistribution opening 8 is present.

The hollow surface 12 allows the feeder 2 to “embrace” the roller 5better than the feeders of the prior art, thus eliminating the risk ofunwanted leakage of the varnish or of the paint.

In order to confer a greater elasticity of use on a feeder 2 madeaccording to the invention, the hollow surface 12 advantageously has aradius not smaller than that of the largest sized roller 5 with whichthe feeder 2 is destined to come into contact.

The depth of the groove 13 is preferably about 3 mm and in any casecomprised between about 2.5 mm and about 3.5 mm, whilst its width isabout 0.6 mm and in any case comprised between about 0.5 mm and about 2mm; the distribution openings 8 have a diameter of about 6 mm and in anycase comprised between about 4 mm and about 8 mm.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the feeder 2 of FIG. 1 sectioned along theplane IV-IV of FIG. 3: in FIG. 4 the manifold 7, the hollow surface 12and a paint or varnish distribution opening 8 can be seen, whilst thelongitudinal groove 13, corresponding to the area of the opening 8immediately adjacent the hollow surface 12, is not explicitly indicated.

Without departing from the scope of the invention, two or more feeders 2supplied with different paints or varnishes can be applied to the sameroller 5.

The present invention further includes a painting device 1, like thatillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprising a feeder 2 made according tothe present invention.

Other possible variants with respect to what is described may occur to aperson skilled in the art; however, said variants accessible to a personskilled in the art are understood as included in the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A feeder for delivering at least one of a paint and a varnish to aroller of a roller device comprising: at least one hollow manifold withat least one opening to deliver and to distribute the at least one ofthe paint and the varnish to the roller of the roller device; a flatface portion positioned on opposite sides of a substantially arcedportion which is recessed from a plane defined by the flat faced portionproximate the at least one opening, wherein the substantially arcedportion is configured for contacting the roller, wherein along alongitudinal axis of the substantially arced portion there is a grooveconnected to the at least one manifold by the at least one opening, andwherein the flat face portion is configured such that it does notcontact the roller when a roller is attached to the feeder.
 2. Thefeeder according to claim 1, wherein the substantially arced portion hasa radius no smaller than a largest radius of the roller with which thefeeder is destined to come into contact.
 3. The feeder according toclaim 1, wherein a depth of the groove is comprised between about 2.5 mmand 3.5 mm.
 4. The feeder according to claim 3, wherein the depth of thegroove is about 3 mm.
 5. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein awidth of the groove is comprised between about 0.5 mm and about 2 mm. 6.The feeder according to claim 5, wherein the width of the groove isabout 0.6 mm.
 7. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein the at leastone opening has a diameter comprised between about 4 mm and 8 mm.
 8. Thefeeder according to claim 7, wherein the diameter of the at least oneopening is about 6 mm.
 9. A product, comprising the feeder as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the product is a painting device.
 10. The feederaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of flexible supplyhoses, wherein each flexible supply hose is connected to the hollowmanifold proximate to different points along the groove of the flatface.
 11. The feeder according to claim 1, further comprising aplurality of openings along the manifold, each opening connected to thegroove to distribute the at least one of a paint and the varnish to theroller.
 12. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein the groove issubstantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the roller.